Republican Registrar of Voters Roger Autuori was charged Friday with breach of peace.

Republican Registrar of Voters Roger Autuori was charged Friday with breach of peace.

Photo: File Photo

Registrar charged after alleged slap

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FAIRFIELD -- For the second time in two years, a local official has been accused of slapping down a co-worker, after a shouting match between the town's two registrars boiled over into violence late last week.

Police say Republican Registrar Roger Autuori grabbed a man by the neck, yelled at him and then hit him across the face with an open hand during an argument late Friday afternoon.

Officers wouldn't name the victim, but sources said it was Democratic Registrar Matthew Waggner. The two men came to blows, police said, as they were loading ballot-scanning devices into a bin at the Fairfield Senior Center, where the town stores its voting equipment.

The town's political community was abuzz as news of the fight spread Monday. Most officials were cautious and said they knew little about the confrontation. But some were quick to condemn the angry exchange.

"I think it's outrageous that any town official would put their hands on another town official," Plotkin said. "Zero tolerance on violence in the workplace should mean just that, regardless of party or political view."

Autuori has been charged with breach of the peace and is due in court Oct. 28. He could not be reached Monday and Waggner declined to comment. Both registrars won re-election to four-year terms last November.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Jamie Millington said both registrars should get over their differences and focus on the town election, which is just two weeks away. He said it will be Autuori's choice whether to step down or stay in office.

"I personally don't think that's acceptable in any way, shape or form in the workplace," said Millington, who is a police officer in Shelton. He said tensions in the registrar's office "have been high for several years."

But Millington said Autuori might be able to weather the allegations and keep his job. Millington pointed to the case of Fire Chief Richard Felner, who was accused of slapping Assistant Chief George Gomola during an argument last year.

An independent investigator hired by the town found that "more likely than not," the slapping took place, but Felner kept his job after the investigator's report came out.

Felner denied Gomola's allegation in that case and said after the report came out that he hadn't meant to cause Gomola any harm. He said his action was intended as a "gesture of camaraderie." No police complaint was filed in that case.

Hal Schwartz, the Democratic minority leader for the Representative Town Meeting, said the Autuori-Waggner incident was an unfortunate one with an election just days away.

"I feel bad for Roger, I like him," Schwartz said Monday. "If this did happen, it's unfortunate. These two guys are going to have to work together."